Cuomo talks, hints at a successor

Gubernatorial favorite says he'll make preference for next AG known before the primary

By JIMMY VIELKIND Capitol bureau

Published 1:00 am, Tuesday, June 8, 2010

ALBANY -- Andrew Cuomo has shown little hesitation about flexing his muscle in the political landscape, so a remark he made Monday morning about which of the five Democrats vying to be the next attorney general was well scrutinized.

Cuomo, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate and retiring AG, said he would "most likely" make a public preference known before the September primary.

"There are a number of quality candidates in that race," Cuomo said during an interview on WGDJ 1300-AM. "I'm looking at Kathleen Rice. I'm looking at Sean Coffey. I'm looking at Eric Dinallo. There are a number of them there, and I'll have a decision down the road."

But he didn't mention the other two candidates -- Sen. Eric Schneiderman and Assemblyman Richard Brodsky. As sitting legislators, the men will cross a point-of-no-return on Wednesday, when they must lock into a spot on the primary ballot for attorney general, rather than seek a reasonably assured course to re-election.

So will Cuomo's preferences in their race make them think twice? His allies are backing Rice, and Cuomo has done nothing to quell the belief among Democratic officials that the Nassau County district attorney is Cuomo's favored successor.

Schneiderman and Brodsky insist they're pressing forward.

"This campaign is going very well, thank you,'' said Brodsky, D-Westchester. ''We're the only issue-oriented campaign with broad, statewide appeal. All I know is that we're going to appeal directly to voters, it's going very well, and we're going to win." James Freedland, a spokesman for Schneiderman, D-Manhattan, said he "absolutely in this race to win this race -- no matter what. We're still the candidate with the most momentum, and the most progressive."

But there is Team Cuomo tipping the scale, of which Monday's comments were just the most recent example. It started at the Democratic Rural conference in May, when Democratic State Chairman Jay Jacobs and Charlie King, the party executive director installed at Cuomo's behest, urged delegates to support Rice.

King traveled to Colonie later in the month to address the Albany County Democratic Committee. Several members were shocked when Chairman Dan McCoy put forward a resolution to endorse Rice, which passed with dissent.

"I figured he was there specifically because of Cuomo's strong connections to both Dan McCoy and Mayor Jennings," said Anton Konev, a common councilman and committee member who backed Brodsky. "Could I infer that his presence was to help shepherd that vote through? I'm not sure."

Cuomo's campaign staffers insist Cuomo has no preference -- yet. But in light of the quiet pressure, they are already insulating against a Cuomo endorsement of Rice.

"The people of this state want an independent Attorney General, and Eric Schneiderman is the only candidate running with a real record of delivering independent, progressive results," Freedland said. Earlier Monday in Manhattan, Schneiderman said he didn't know if Rice could be independent if elected. Later in the day, Rice rebuffed that charge.

Brodsky similarly shrugged off the thought of pressure. "It doesn't matter. He's an American, he's entitled to his opinion. His father tried to change the result of a primary in 1982, it didn't work," he said, referring to the election of Alfred DelBello for lieutenant governor over Carl McCall.